Charlie tries something new
by hoagie
Summary: Charlie tries something he's never done before; leaving the Waitress alone.


If you don't know what a hoagie or what WAWA is then then parts of this story will probably be confusing.

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Although she knew it so well, she hated the feeling; the sensation that she was being followed or at least being observed at a distance. She knew who was responsible, Charlie Kelly, a short man who worked at a bar and depending on the day of the week smelled of garbage, alcohol, or gasoline.

As always she tried her best to ignore the feeling and pretended that she didn't live in a world in which Charlie Kelly was completely obsessed with her. She heard footsteps behind her and a rage began to build up inside her. It was Charlie behind her no doubt about it. It frustrated her to no end that a man she wanted nothing to do with was so familiar to her that she could recognize him by the pace of his footsteps alone.

Judging by the sounds of his steps he was only a few feet behind her and that only made her angrier. She tried her best to keep her anger in check on her way home but as she drew closer and closer to her apartment building things only got worse. She didn't need him following her all the way up to her apartment again. The Waitress decided the best thing she could do was to turn around and yell at him to go away, which would be easy considering how annoyed she was with him.

He hadn't meant to follow her, he really hadn't. But when he caught sight of her walking home from work he just fell in behind her and followed, Charlie knew that she hated it when he did this but he couldn't help it. She was so much more beautiful and interesting than any other woman he had ever seen.

The Waitress stopped walking before she turned around to face Charlie. Charlie could tell by the look on her face alone that she was as unhappy to see him as she usually was.

"God dam it, Charlie. Could I please just have one day where you don't follow me home!"

"Yeah, totally you can totally have that." Charlie said sounding pathetic and agreeable as ever.

"Really Charlie I can? Cause you say that all the time and then you stalk me the next day."

"I'm sorry"

The Waitress glared at him in response. "I have a restraining order against you, how about you actually listen to it so I don't have to threaten to call the cops every day. Pleas Charlie just leave me the fuck alone!"

Charlie looked back at the women he loved trying his best not to look as hurt as he felt. "Okay, that's cool. I'm going to go now" he said before he turned and headed in the direction of the bar.

When he had woken up in the morning he had promised himself that he would leave her alone for the day. He reasoned that if he left her alone for a while she would cool off and maybe start treating him nicer. He screwed up today and he knew it. As Charlie opened the door to paddy's he swore to himself that he would leave the Waitress alone and prove to her that he would do whatever he needed to do to make her happy.

It had been over a week since she had last seen Charlie and it was strange to be free of his obsession for her, pleasant, but still strange. Charlie had pursued her for years so it was hard to accept that she was finally alone and that he wasn't following her or watching her from somewhere. She wondered if this week had been a miracle or if the last time she yelled at him really the last time she would ever see him. She felt kind of bad for yelling at him, but she didn't regret it if it had finally gotten him to leave her alone.

The Waitress walked home from work, the walk that Charlie had usually stalked her on. The path home took her past small restaurants that had outdoor tables where people could seat themselves. It was at one of these small restaurants that the waitress spotted "The Gang" as they called themselves. Dennis, his sister, Mac and of course Charlie were seated at a table arguing about how one of the Rocky movies was the greatest movie ever. Although she was a good fifty feet away from the gang she could hear the loud mouthed idiots as if they were right next to her.

Thankful that none of them had spotted her, especially Charlie, the waitress considered crossing to the opposite side of the street or going down another street entirely to avoid them. Past experience had taught her that contact with the gang was to be avoided at all costs so she decided to go down another street until she heard one of the gang say "The Waitress"

Curious as to how the subject of their conversation had changed to her. She stopped and listened in on them.

"Charlie aren't you usually stalking the Waitress this time of day?"

She could tell it was Dennis asking him. She used to like him to like Dennis till she found out he was a self absorbed ass that made creepy videos of anyone that came into his room. Plus he still didn't know her name, actually none of them did except for Charlie.

"First off dude she has a name"

She almost wanted to thank Charlie except that it would involve approaching him' as much as his constant advances annoyed her, he was the only one that had any respect for her.

"I told you, I don't follow her anymore. She's sick of me."

"She was sick of you a long time ago Charlie." Deandra said.

"Yeah, that bitch never liked you dude" Mac said echoing the sentiment of sweet Dee.

"Don't call her a bitch man"

"Why do you defend her Charlie?" Dennis asked raising his voice even more than he usually did.

"You pour you heart out to that girl and she just rejects you"

"I don't know guys, can we just talk about something else."

Mac spoke up again "He's right guys we should ridicule Charlie because he can't read the menu, not because he got rejected by the waitress."

The Waitress had heard enough, she walked down another street bypassing the gang altogether. It was strange but after listening in on them she actually felt bad for Charlie. She had yelled at him for not leaving her alone and when he finally did he got shit from his friends. He had even defended her in front of them even though he had apparently given up on her. The Waitress continued home feeling upset with herself, after finally getting Charlie to leave her alone she ended feeling sympathy for him.

Hoagie fest at Wawa was a great time of year for someone like Charlie. Paddy's never made much money for the gang and Charlie always got the smallest cut of whatever meager profit they earned. This way he could get a half way decent sandwich for very little money which was an improvement over his normal diet. After giving his order and receiving his hoagie (wink wink) Charlie turned towards the register only to cross paths with her.

There was look of surprise on the waitress's face that mirrored Charlie's. The fear that the waitress would think he was stalking her again entered his mind and his first instinct was to apologize. "I'm sorry I didn't know you were in here."

"Charlie it's okay. I saw you in line when I got her. It's alright if we bump into each I just don't want you following me everywhere"

"Oh okay" Charlie said relieved that she didn't think he was up to his old antics. The two of them shared an awkward silence till the waitress spoke.

"So I'm gonna go, see you around."

A smile formed on her lips before she moved past him and Charlie went to the register. Charlie paid for his sandwich but before he left the Wawa he looked to the back of the store where the waitress had gone. Despite his best efforts to get a look at her she was lost amongst the aisles and Charlie decided to stop trying before he was caught looking. With his hoagie in hand Charlie walked to Paddy's. Along the way came the realization hit him that the Waitress had actually been nice to him; she had even gone as far as to smile at him. He figured that it may just been a nervous smile but still the fact that she did it all was a huge change.

It had been another week since she had last seen Charlie minus their run in at Wawa. It was strange, what had been pleasant before was starting to be disconcerting. Although she had always been annoyed by Charlie's constant presence in her life, now that he was gone she realized just how alone she was in the city. She had friends and family in the suburbs outside of Philly but inside the city she was all alone. Really the closest thing to friends that she had were the gang who she avoided since they only made her life worse. Another factor that wore away at her was that ever since she had overheard the gang speaking about her, she had felt bad for how she treated Charlie. This was made worse when she bumped into him at the Wawa and he apologized for simply being in the same building as her.

Though she could barely stand the thought, she knew that apologizing to Charlie was the right thing to do. The Waitress knew that Charlie would likely mistake her apology for something else but if her feelings of guilt were to be avoided it had to be done. She thought finding him again would be an issue but five minutes later she ended up spotting him on the opposite side of the street. Charlie had his hand in his pockets and his head hung low. His depressed appearance only strengthened the empathy she felt and against her better judgment the waitress found herself calling out his name while crossed the street towards him.

Charlie made his way home from Paddy's, he had had a fun day at the bar with his friends but the day still felt empty to him. He hadn't seen the Waitress in a week and because of that the whole week felt pointless to him. For years the biggest reason he got out of bed in the morning was for the chance to see her. So when he went even a day without seeing her he felt as if everything he had done for the day was meaningless.

Charlie continued on the way to his shithole apartment he shared with Frank till he heard someone call out his name. He looked up in the direction of the voice and saw the waitress of all people approaching him. His heart began to race like it always did when he saw her.

"Charlie, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Uh yeah, sure" Charlie said trying to ignore how fake his response sounded; they both knew he would always make time for her.

"Listen Charlie about the last time I yelled at you, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I..."

"Don't" Charlie cut in. "You didn't do anything wrong. I never left you alone and you just did what you had to do."

Charlie could see the confused look forming on the Waitress's face; even he could tell that she hadn't expected him to say that. "Still Charlie I just want to say I was too hard on you and I'm sorry."

The same nervous smile he had seen her show at Wawa formed on her lips again. Charlie's first instinct was to think that she may have warmed up to him and that he should try and ask her out. The problem was that he had thought that so many times in the past and she had never said yes. Instead Charlie used all the thinking power that huffing glue had yet to destroy and came up with a plan, he would try something new.

Charlie said "its okay really don't worry about it." Before he turned and continued towards his apartment leaving the Waitress behind him.

The Waitress stood in stunned silence watching Charlie as he left. Not only had Charlie not taken her apology as a sign that she wanted to be around him but he had been the one to end their conversation and walk away first. This was something she had never seen Charlie Kelly do in all the years that she had known him.

The Waitress woke up the next day and to her surprise the first thing that came to her mind was Charlie. Her conversation with him had stuck with her the whole day and as the next day started she found that the image of a downtrodden and depressed Charlie kept popping into her mind. She tried her best to concentrate on her job at the coffee shop but time after time the mental image of Charlie appeared to her and a feeling of warmth followed it. Though it disturbed her she knew that the feeling could mean only one thing. Sometime in the last 24 hours she had started to think Charlie Kelly was cute. For someone who spent years resisting his advances it was hard to take but once the notion that she might find him attractive entered her mind it was impossible to get rid of.

The workday went on and soon the rush of people that the coffee shop saw in the morning died out, leaving the Waitress with nothing to do but stand around and think in her empty place of employment. It was in this lull between breakfast and lunch that Charlie used to come in and bother her. She used to hate the sound of the chime that was attached to the door because it more than likely signaled Charlie's presence. The strange thing was that she wouldn't mind seeing Charlie walk through that door. She was bored and as novel as it was to her she wouldn't mind seeing him right now. The Waitress knew that Charlie wouldn't be coming through that door though, he hadn't stalked her in over two weeks, if she wanted to see him she would have to be the one that approached him for once,

Charlie scrubbed away at the toilets that the rest of the gang refused to touch; he had been left alone at the bar when the rest of his friends had decided to go eat dinner at some restaurant. Charlie decided not to go as he wasn't that hungry and he didn't need the embarrassment of trying to read the menu in front of his friends. This left Charlie with nothing better to do than the janitorial tasks that had been labeled Charlie work by everyone else.

He kept at it until he heard the sound of the bar's door being opened. It was strange that he couldn't hear any of the gang speaking but he dismissed it as nothing more than one of his friends coming back to the bar. That is until he heard a familiar feminine voice call oout "Hello" It wasn't Dee's voice which was odd since she was the only woman who dared set foot in Paddy's Pub.

With his curiosity piqued Charlie left the bathroom and stepped out into the bar. Much to his surprise it was the Waitress who had walked into the bar.

"Hey" Charlie said nervously though he realized that he had every right to speak to her since she was in his place of employment.

"I'm the only one here right now. If you're looking for Dennis, he's out with everyone else. "

The Waitress shook her head emphatically "I never want to see Dennis again." Charlie smiled after hearing that.

"Well, why are you here then?"

"I.." The nervous smile he had seen before formed on her lips again.

"I wanted to talk to you actually."

"Really" Charlie asked feeling his heart speed up.

"Yeah, I uh wanted to know if you're doing anything tomorrow."

Charlie felt his face flush, if he didn't know any better he could have sworn a very old dream of his was coming true. "No, I didn't have anything planned."

"Well do you want to get something to eat after I get off work tomorrow?"

It took all of Charlie's limited willpower not to immediately accept her invitation and stay calm. "Yeah, that would be cool."

The Waitress flashed him another smile and said "Good, I'll see you tomorrow then"Before she turned around and headed for the door.

Before she could open the door though, she stopped and turned back again and moved towards Charlie.

"Charlie" she said as she took one of his hands into hers.

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to see what I had in you." To Charlie's surprise the waitress then leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek.

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Alright I'll admit it, that was terrible. it wasn't particularly good and the stupid sickly sweet ending doesn't fit the show at all. I'm too lazy to put more effort behind it and there are so few stories for It's always sunny, even fewer Charlie/Waitress stories I decided to post this anyway.


End file.
